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Discord is chatting about an IPO

Nice scoop from the Gray Lady, reporting that online chat group network Discord is in early, exploratory talks about going public.

An offering of shares would likely be of interest to some extremely online retail traders and gamers, many of whom are users. It would also be a welcome jolt for the IPO market, which has seen relatively few banner-name companies go public in the past few years.

In terms of potential comps for the company — which was last valued at $15 billion in 2021, per the Times — Reddit springs to mind, due to the close linkage of the two services. Many subreddits have associated Discord groups.

Reddit’s ride as a public company has been pretty strong, as the company has shown its ability to post profits.

Even more to the point in terms of potential IPOs, Reddit’s stock market performance since its IPO almost a year ago has been outstanding.

The company’s run-up over the past year has pretty much mirrored retail trading favorite Palantir, which was the best-performing stock in the S&P last year.

Both stocks have trounced the market since last November’s election, even after accounting for a brutal sell-off over the last couple weeks.

In terms of potential comps for the company — which was last valued at $15 billion in 2021, per the Times — Reddit springs to mind, due to the close linkage of the two services. Many subreddits have associated Discord groups.

Reddit’s ride as a public company has been pretty strong, as the company has shown its ability to post profits.

Even more to the point in terms of potential IPOs, Reddit’s stock market performance since its IPO almost a year ago has been outstanding.

The company’s run-up over the past year has pretty much mirrored retail trading favorite Palantir, which was the best-performing stock in the S&P last year.

Both stocks have trounced the market since last November’s election, even after accounting for a brutal sell-off over the last couple weeks.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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